Long-Delayed James Hotel on Sunset Strip Sells to Europeans

Good lord, could things drag out any longer for the proposed James Hotel on Sunset near San Vicente. The 196-room hotel project has been in the works since 1999 (back then it was a Hotel Astra; James bought it in 2005) and now the site has just sold to "a European hotel developer that has built luxury hotels in the Middle East," reports the LA Business Journal (sub. req.). It's hard to believe there'll ever be action on the property, but sources say the new owner plans to start work on "a five-star hotel" by October lest West Hollywood slap it with a $1 million penalty. Still, the city has extended the entitlements for the hotel six times already. Those entitlements allow for "a six-story, 196-room hotel with four extended-stay or residential units," plus 26,000 square feet of groundfloor restaurant space. The new owners paid $28 million for the property.
· New Owner Takes On Sunset Strip Hotel Project [LABJ, sub. req.]